


The Downfall of Adrien Agreste

by 2Random101 (orphan_account), GachaStar



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Abused Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Adrien Agreste Needs Help, Adrien Agreste Smokes, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Angst, Akuma Class - Freeform, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Before The New York Special (Miraculous Ladybug), Depressed Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Drunk Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Evil Lila Rossi, Gen, Guardian Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Lila Rossi Lies, Manipulative Lila Rossi, Mentioned Akuma (Miraculous Ladybug), New York Special Did Not Happen (Miraculous Ladybug), Oblivious Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Plagg Cares (Miraculous Ladybug), Poor Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug), Post-Episode: s03 Miracle Queen (The Battle of the Miraculous Part 2), Sad Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Tikki Is So Done (Miraculous Ladybug), Underage Drinking, Underage Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:42:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 12
Words: 13,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26875381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/2Random101, https://archiveofourown.org/users/GachaStar/pseuds/GachaStar
Summary: When Adrien Agreste reaches near his breaking point, things start to downfall greatly.But don’t worry, Lila and Gabriel are here to help him get to it.Surprisingly, they aren't the only ones who get him there.Update 23/12/2020- Discontinued for now
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Plagg, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Plagg/Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug)
Comments: 88
Kudos: 153





	1. Prologue

To an outsider, everything was looking up in Paris for a while now. 

Hawkmoth was quiet, for he had not akumatized anyone in Paris for nearly two months now, after the defeat of ‘Miracle Queen’. Crime rates were at its lowest point, and fewer accidents were being reported. 

Nothing seemed to be going wrong.

But for 15-year-old Adrien Agreste, everything was going downhill.

~~~

The fact that Hawkmoth was quiet was no good news for Adrien, as he was also Chat Noir, one of Paris’s superheroes.

Hawkmoth was clearly planning something. In another time, Adrien wouldn’t make such an assumption, but after knowing him for two years and fighting him twice, Adrien knew that silence shouldn’t be taken lightly. Although not normally being the one to freak out, he felt more jumpy and somewhat scared as the days went on. Hawkmoth had two miraculouses, 3 allies, and the information that Ladybug was the new guardian of the Miracle box. This meant that Ladybug and her civilian form were in danger.

Why wouldn’t he be scared for his lady?

Ladybug's whole demeanour changed when she became guardian. She became calm, cool, collected and much more serious. Ladybug was so calm during their daily night patrols of Paris, that she completely brushed off Adrien’s concerns about her and Hawkmoth. 

Ladybug’s change wasn’t all for the better however. She had stopped saying her sassy remarks after his usually bad puns, and told Chat to focus and stop being a comedian. Normally Chat wouldn’t mind, but the glares that she gave him told him that he needed to stop completely. It got boring talking to Ladybug, since there was no more laughter. 

The occasional laughs and curt nods she had once given had died out, leaving her with nothing but seriousness. 

At some point, 3 weeks after Miracle Queen, they eventually stopped doing patrols together. Even though they had to stay a team, Ladybug told Chat that they would be safer if they stayed apart, and only contacted each other when they really needed help.  
She never said why they should stay apart, only that they should. They ended up not speaking. 

That broke Chat.  
He loved her, yet she abandoned him.  
She changed so much, yet he didn’t.

She broke him. 

~~~

Ladybug wasn’t the only blue haired girl that he had drifted away from. One of his best friends called Marinette, avoided him when she could, starting at around the same time Ladybug avoided him. She would barely talk to him (unless in a group with Alya or Nino), roll her eyes if he said anything and would run away and give him glares if he tried to talk to her. 

Adrien couldn’t understand it. Why would Marinette, who was normally so kind and sweet, avoid him and hate him so much? Although her avoiding him didn’t hurt as much as it did with Ladybug, it still hurt.

So much.

Adrien tried to come up with reasons why Marinette hated him, yet all he came to was Lila. But they weren’t at each other's throats at all anymore, so why would Marinette hate him because of Lila? He must have done something else, but Marinette gave him no clues to what he did wrong. Marinette was with Luka now anyway, so (jealousy?) couldn’t be it either.

What did Marinette expect him to do? 

She obviously hated him.

~~~

Since Ladybug left him, Adrien tried to change targets as Kagami said. However, after going out with Kagami on their first date after 2 weeks, it was obvious that they didn't click.

The date was a complete disaster. 

Why?

Adrien realised he still had feelings for Ladybug, although they hadn’t talked in nearly 4 weeks. He felt love for Kagami, sure, but it wasn’t as strong as his love for Ladybug. 

Adrien realised this when he finally let Kagami kiss him on the lips. Although he knew that him and ladybug would never be together, he felt as if he was betraying her. The girl he loved.

Ladybug.

Kagami realised exactly what Adrien was thinking because she saw it in his eyes. She got so angry, she ended up slapping him across the face, much the surprise of both of them. Before Adrien could even say a word, Kagami stood up from the café table, and said in a steely voice,

‘Adrien. I will not ‘beat the about bush’ here. The fact that you cannot simply get over Ladybug is maddening. I waited patiently for a long time, but now I am not patient. Do you realise how hard it is to love someone whose heart belongs to someone else? I give up on you Adrien Agreste. Goodbye.’

And with that, Kagami left Adrien alone, unallowing him to let him talk or go after her. 

Adrien wanted to kick himself for being so unable to love Kagami and letting her go like that, yet he realised that there would be no point to do anything. He screwed up, and screwed up badly, even if he had no control over his feelings. It wasn’t entirely his fault. 

But Kagami had left him anyway.

Adrien was having a bad time with blue haired ladies lately. 

~~~

What made Adrien finally crack was his father, and his father's assistant, Nathalie

Nathalie overloaded Adrien with a full schedule each day, filled with piano lessons, fencing, modelling and Chinese lessons. There was no input of when to study for his upcoming homework and tests, yet there was still one hour of freedom for him each day. But even with that one hour, he still ended up having to study after dinner until around 11 pm. With his nightly patrols from 2-4 am, waking up at 6:30 to get ready for school, Adrien would only have 5 1/2 hours of sleep at most. 

He was absolutely exhausted.

And as for his dad, well that was a different story. The good between him and his father went down the drain. His father was completely ignoring him, shouted at him when finally ’interrupted from his important work’, and became very secretive. He barely acknowledged his son. He also seemed to be working on something other than fashion...

~ ~ ~

When Adrien finally came home after his disastrous date with Kagami in the evening , Adrien finally burst into his father's room and cracked. Not about his regular life, but what his father was doing with him. He was sick of being the perfect child.

The pressure of his whole life on his shoulders, Adrien shouted at his father, fuming. 

‘Father, you can’t ignore me like this! Just because mom isn’t here anymore, and you’re a business man does not mean you can treat me like this!’

Adrien’s father glanced at his tablet, and gave a steely glance at his son. His facial expressions turned from a frown to annoyance and anger.

‘Adrien, I’m busy. Can’t you see that? I have a lot of business to attend to. Don’t bring her up now. Do not act like an insolent toddler. I did not raise-‘

Adrien slammed his hands onto the top of his father’s tablet holder. All he saw was red, and he completely lost it.

‘Don’t bring her up?! Father, all I want you to do is be a father to me! You’ve changed so much since mother disappeared! You’ve become self absorbed, mean, and cruel! I wish- I wish-‘

‘I wish you were gone and your mother was here!’

…

Adrien stopped suddenly, his hand slowly reaching up towards the stinging sensation in his cheek. 

Silence overcame both of them, and Adrien’s father's hand was still raised. Adrien looked down at the floor, the dam threatening to break. 

His father had slapped him. Just because he disturbed his father's important work. Because he wanted him to act like a proper father to him. Because he didn’t want to be alone.

Adrien brought himself to his full height, and stared at his father, eyes glassy with tears. 

‘Well, Mr. Agreste, I understand my position to you now. I shall no longer embarrass you with my presence as I know you wish to not be near it.’

‘I will now retire to my room.’

‘Mon dieu... Adrien, wait!’ 

Adrien ran out of his father's room, tears falling down his face like the Niagara Falls, paying no heed to his father's pleas.

After reaching and barricading his room, he fell onto his bed, trying to let it all out, while Plagg rubbed his back making soothing noises. 

But he couldn’t get it all out. 

After finally calming down enough, he grabbed a nearby duffel bag and pulled on a hoodie. He opened up the window and took a deep breath.

‘Plagg, Claws Out!


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath of the Adrien and Gabriel’s fight, and Adrien finds a way to deal with the pain.

Chat Noir crouched on the edge of one of the many secluded Parisian rooftops, gripping his knees while admiring the magnificence of the night sky. The pitch-black night looked so serene on its own, but along with the shimmering luminous glow of the stars and moons made it beautiful. The rest of Paris followed suit, definitely earning its name of ‘City of Light.’

Chat heaved a great sigh and blinked back tears that were threatening to fall again. 

Why did Paris look so peaceful while his life was falling apart? 

He had no love.  
He had no family.  
And one of the friends he cared about the most had left him.

It just wasn't fair. Why did he have to be left alone?!

Chat let out an anguished yell, tears spilling down his face for the second time that evening. 

‘Why do the people I care about leave me? Why do they hate me? Why do they avoid me? Why do they hate me so much?’

But there was no answer. 

’Alone. Like always. You must really be a jerk, Agreste.’ 

The little voice in his head seemed to be growing louder each passing day.

Chat buried his head in his knees. He couldn't let the voice take over him, he couldn't lose control. Hawk Moth would be delighted to akumatize him, even if he was quiet for two months. He needed to calm down.

Breathe in, Breathe out.

Rubbing his eyes, Chat lifted up his head and sighed again. 

The majority of these problems belonged to Adrien Agreste, not Chat Noir, Parisian superhero. He was Chat Noir right now, not some jerky pretty boy. 

Chat pulled his hair. He really needed to calm down. 

But how could he calm down?!

His father had slapped him, just because he didn’t want to be ignored!  
Marinette, one of his first best friends, hated him! And he didn’t even know what he did wrong!  
Ladybug, the girl he loved, avoided him and seemed to hate him as well.  
Kagami, someone he really cared for, had left him thanks to his ‘indecisiveness’ and ‘inability’ to get over Ladybug. 

And his mother was still missing.

He managed to destroy the good things he had by literally doing nothing at all.

Chat chuckled darkly, the puzzle clicking into place. 

Of course, he would destroy the good things he had! Of course, he would destroy what good he went near to. He had the freaking ring of destruction after all. His power was to destroy. That’s the only thing he could do!

The moon seemed to be mocking him now. 

Darker wishes wrapped Chat’s mind like a towel.

Why couldn’t he just destroy himself right then and there? No one was there to stop him. What kind of superhero was he if all he could do was destroy? It was a perfect time to-

Chat frowned and internally punched himself. Who was he to let self-loathing take over his mind? He was Chat Noir, a superhero! Superheroes saved other people, not themselves. He still needed to be there to save Paris, and he couldn’t do that if he was dead, or worse, akumatized. If Ladybug was there, she would probably hit him with her yo-yo to make him snap out of it. 

If she still cared for him of course.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, Chat shuffled his bag to build a make-shift pillow and lay down. He needed to rel-

‘No!’

Chat Noir sat up, alert, and peered over the edge of the flat rooftop. A pair of civilians were arguing on the pavement down below, and one of them seemed to be struggling to get away. After the initial shock of not seeing them sooner, Chat pulled on his bag and reached towards his baton to call Ladybug but only to decide against it. It wasn't majorly important, and Chat doubted that she was even awake at this time. 

He could handle it by himself. 

~~~

Chat Noir slid down his baton to the alleyway nearest to the duo and crouched down to avoid being seen. Letting his bag drop, Chat leaned back, now flat against the wall, Chat perked his ears up, hanging onto every word. Interfering would be a good idea in theory, but in reality, it was safer to gain evidence than to interrogate.

‘-told you, no. My life is cruddy, sure, but me coming home drunk is not a good idea. I want to forget about life, but I don't want my health to be ruined! Now let me go for crying out loud!’

‘Oh crap,’ Chat thought internally. He wasn’t dealing with a small argument here, he was dealing with drug and alcohol dealers. A strange sensation came over Chat’s mind. 

For some reason, he didn’t want to interfere now because something was holding him back. But what was holding him back if it wasn’t fear?

The voice belonged to someone obviously female, and it sounded as if she had been crying before. She sounded more mature than of his classmates, so Chat assumed she was at least 17.

Chat shuffled closer towards the entrance of the alleyway, now standing up in flight or fight mode. His body was ready to pounce, yet his mind was still dancing through the mist. He wasn’t entirely sure what was going on through his head, but the voice was egging him on to do… what exactly?

‘If your life has been as cruddy as you make it seem, why don’t you take this?’

Chat heard rattling and a sharp gasp from the girl. 

‘And also, who said anything about getting drunk? I was just, well, persuading you to try this. It will make you feel better after all.’

This voice sounded older and definitely had an intimidating edge to it. This guy sounded like a young adult, much like the girl, and Chat face-palmed in irritation. If he chose to interrogate, it would be no doubt that they would be absolutely delighted to see a famous cat eavesdropping on their conversation at 1 in the morning. 

Not.

Chat, sucking in all his strength, decided to go for it anyway and moved his legs to meet with them, but repressed himself when the girl spoke again. 

The back of his head was screaming. In joy?

‘If I were to believe you monsieur, can you give me one good reason why these will make me feel better?’

The uneasiness had left the girls tone, as it had been replaced by confidence and certain greed. Now, she seemed hooked onto the sloshing and rattling the man was making.

The man had the girl’s undivided attention, and unknowingly, Chat’s.

‘It made me feel better. I’ve been using these since I was 16. It’s an instant stress reliever.  
Made my life much more bearable. Of course, I’ve never done it excessively, once every two weeks I suppose…’

Chat slid down the crumbling wall, thoughts swirling through his head, paying no heed to the duo anymore. He closed his eyes, his brain fighting with the little voice. 

‘It’s an instant stress reliever!’

‘I’ll become a drunk bastard!’

‘It will make me forget about everything!’

‘I’ll get in trouble with the law!’

‘It makes my life much more bearable!’

‘It will kill my body!

‘What do you have to lose?’

…

What did he have to lose indeed? 

There was no one left to truly care about him. So why would he care, if no one else did?

There was nothing to lose. 

It didn't matter if he was a superhero.  
It didn’t matter if he was a model.  
It just didn’t matter.

Finalising his decision, Chat Noir picked up his bag and backed into the corner of the alleyway. Hiding behind some rusty old trash cans, making sure he couldn’t be seen, Adrien detransformed. 

After rummaging through his bag to give Plagg camembert, Adrien looked into the pocket mirror that he kept in his hoodie. Without masses of product in his hair, the dishevelled strands fell into his most distinguishable feature, his emerald green eyes. A small smile covered his face, as he pulled on his hood. He was practically unrecognisable. 

Plagg, who was normally loud and boisterous, remained mute on top of Adrien’s bag, nibbling his cheese. He knew exactly what Adrien was going to do, and he didn’t like it one bit. But he didn't have the heart to tell Adrien that. 

After all, it was only once. The kid needed some sort of freedom in his life. 

It was one time anyway.  
One time never hurt anyone.  
Right…? 

~~~

Lila Rossi stood at her window grumbling. She couldn’t sleep.

She was staying over at a family friend’s rather uncomfortable apartment, while their one was getting redecorated. Lila tried to be grateful, for it was big and she did like the Reids, but it was hard to hide her disdain, given the character that she was. 

Uncomfortable beds, no air conditioning, weird smells…

The list of reasons why she didn't like the apartment was growing at an alarming rate.

There was nothing that made her stay there enjoyable. 

Or was there?

Lila opened the window, the night breeze lifting her chestnut hair delicately. She opened her mouth to take a deep breath but closed it when she heard the faint voice of Adrien Agreste outside. Lila leaned out of the window and looked down in shock. Squinting her eyes, Lila managed to spot him, along with two other shadowy figures. Puffs of smoke emitted from the designer-clad model. Lila widened her eyes. 

The boy that she did photoshoots with every Friday was smoking. Lila shook her head in worry. What was he doing? He was going to ruin her next photo shoot, not to mention her entire career if anyone found out. 

Lila sighed and rolled her eyes. Why was she so surprised? Despite working for Gabriel, Adrien’s father, Lila knew he was a terrible father to Adrien. He had also gotten dumped in a way Lila had never seen before. Oh, and he was a model. Models never stayed sober for long. 

Sudden realisation hit Lila like a truck.

She closed the window and curtains quietly, then hopped into bed, grinning evilly. 

She thought that she had already done well by witnessing Adrien’s breakup with that insufferable Kagami earlier, but now she had dirt on him she could expose to the entire world? Now that was the cherry on her cake. 

She didn’t really care what she was about to do to Adrien. He was popular, gorgeous, rich and completely oblivious. The only thing she wanted was to gain popularity and fame. Blackmailing him would cause no harm to her. He had no one, except Nino, and Lila knew that he wouldn’t stay with his ‘best bud’ for long. 

She could finally get what she deserved, and no one could stop her. Especially Agreste. 

Carefully calculating the plan in her head, Lila closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, but not before silently thanking the girl who made it so much easier for Lila.

‘Thank you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my beta, Star! She is an amazing writer on Wattpad. Here is the link to her account:
> 
> https://my.w.tt/O0m0XtGFpab. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
> Also, thank you to all the 14 people who left kudos on my work! I appreciate it a lot. 
> 
> Chapter 2 will be up soon! 
> 
> For context, I have never drunk alcohol or smoked, so I don’t know whether my interpretation of these two subjects are correct. 
> 
> Again, constructive criticism is much appreciated!


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another Adrien-centric chapter, and this time, Gabriel decides to give some more A+ parenting. Also, Adrien has a bone to pick with Nathalie.

Saying that Adrien felt awful when he woke up the next day was an understatement.

He woke up on top of his bed, fully clothed with Plagg smacking his head with a great gusto. When he was about to ask Plagg what the hell happened, a bubbling sensation filled him, and Adrien barely managed to stumble to the bathroom sink before the liquor he had drunk the night before made a reappearance. While the night before the burning sensation going down felt good, this morning it burned twice as much and tasted twice as bad. 

Trembling and sweaty, Adrien sat on the bathroom floor with a pounding headache, parched mouth and boiling stomach. Hundreds of thoughts circled around his head like a bad memory.

He-he…

He came home drunk and he had smoked.

He had always told himself he would never do those two things. But he did anyway.

How pathetic was he?

‘Adrien…’

Adrien turned his head around and saw Plagg looking at him with concern and pity.  
He needed to be strong. Breaking down would do nothing go-

Adrien felt his face break and tears poured down his face. Plagg zoomed towards Adrien and tried to wrap his tiny arms around him. Adrien tensed up, but then he lifted up his arms and hugged the petite Demi-god back. 

It was nice to be hugged.

At least he wasn’t completely alone.

Plagg moved back, and opened up his mouth to comfort him, but he was interrupted when a sharp knock came from Adrien’s door. 

‘Adrien, are you there? You are running late, and your father wishes to speak with you before you go. You have 5 minutes.’

Shivers ran down Adrien’s back when he heard Natalie’s voice. While he always wanted his father to be there for him, Adrien knew this was not going to be good. 

Adrien felt his face pale in dread. 

The small amounts of happiness he had felt drained away. 

~~~  
Adrien sat in the back of his car, staring at nowhere in particular. As he expected, nothing good came out of the encounter with his father. Even though Adrien had held a tiny sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe his father would be concerned for him, Adrien was mistaken.

Poorly mistaken.

Merde

~~~  
As he entered the study, pale cold eyes met his tired green, and Adrien felt himself back into the wall with terror as his father advanced forward. A broken bottle lay on the ground. 

It looked as though Adrien himself wasn't the only one who had a bit of a drink. 

Adrien felt the same stinging sensation that happened last night again, but this time, he didn't feel it only on his cheek. It was everywhere. Pain everywhere. 

It wasn't just physical.

Tears formed in his eyes as he felt his knees buckle and fall to the floor. Adrien closed his eyes. 

Why did it always have to be him?! 

A voice filled the room, temporarily diminishing the thoughts in his head. 

'You,' the voice stated, 'Are a disgrace to the name Agreste. I give you so much, yet all I am met with is shouting and disrespect. If you try to step out of line one more time, I will pull you out of school, and you will never see your so-called friends again. You have no idea how much I'm doing for you. Also, do not let your emotions get to you. Look at you. Didn't I teach you that an Agreste has to look impeccable and perfect at all times? I can't bear to see you.' 

And with that, Gabriel walked out of the room. 

Just then, a rather forlorn looking Nathalie peered through the door. 

'Adrien, it's time to go. Grab your bag from upstairs quickly.' 

Adrien felt his shaky legs stand up, and he wiped his tears away. He couldn't show emotion. It was his fault for being so damn stupid and weak. His father was right after all. 

Adrien plastered on his model smile. 

'Yes Nathalie, I'll be quick,' he replied weakly. 

A packet of cigarettes were thrown into his school bag when he went upstairs to get it. 

~~~  
Nathalie broke the silence.

'Adrien, I realise that your father is being… irrational, but please, do not do anything rash. Everything will get worse if you react.' 

Adrien snapped his head to his right, and momentarily forgot about his problems to inspect Nathalie properly. 

Her once thick, bright navy hair had thinned to the light colour of aegean, and wrinkles creased all over her face. The once bright orbs of blue that were her eyes had changed to the dull shade of a cloudy sky. Her face had considerably lost its rosiness, and the rest of her form had seemed to be stick-like as well. 

For the first time in forever, he saw his mother again. Only this time, in someone else. 

Adrien wasn't the only one who was experiencing pain.

Nathalie was too. He decided to go easy on her, even though his blood was boiling with rage at her words. Yeah, she meant well. But really? Was she honestly going to let his father act like that? And don't do anything rash? Seriously? 

'Yes Nathalie, I'll try to do that. Anyway, the next time my dad becomes drunk could you warn me? Thanks.' 

Nathalie cut a warning glance at Adrien. Adrien glared back.

The sound of a horn snapped Adrien and Nathalie out of their spell, and Adrien undid his belt swiftly. 

'Sorry Nathalie, this chat was lovely, but I'm afraid I have to go now. See you soon.' 

Nathalie narrowed her eyes, but gave her thin lipped smile. 'Alright Adrien, have a pleasant day at school.' 

Adrien opened the car door, and then closed it. 

'Yeah, you too.'

As he watched the car zoom away, Adrien slumped his shoulders and rubbed his eyes. His head was still pounding, and nausea filled his stomach again. But something else was wrong. 

He was filled with so much emotion before. Anger, annoyance, sadness, confusion…  
Nothing in his head had made sense. But now his head only had one question, zooming around like a deflated balloon. 

Why did he feel so... empty?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the lovely kudos! I would never of imagined I would get over 20. Thank you all so, so much.
> 
> I feel so bad that Adrien is going through all this pain, but whatever. In any story of angst, pain is what we need the most.
> 
> Also, like I mentioned in the last notes, I have never drank alcohol or smoked, so my interpretation of these subjects may not be correct. 
> 
> Doing some research into these subjects, I found that the legal age is 18, (obviously) but you can drink and smoke in the presence of adults if you are 16. So, what Adrien is doing is still illegal. He's only just turned 15 in this AU.
> 
> Constructive criticism is much appreciated, and feel free to drop a comment!
> 
> Have a great day/night. 
> 
> ~2Random101~


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This time, we have an interlude with Marinette, and Lila starts her plan.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was having a good morning.

She finally managed to get enough sleep to be a proper, functioning human being.

The training she was doing with Wayzz was going great, and her super-clumsiness didn't show for once.

Yep, her day was having an amazing start.

But obviously, Adrien Agreste had to spoil it, via a Tikki lecture.

Mari couldn't make sense of it. Why did Tikki care so damn much about Agreste? The spineless weasel was undeserving of her. 

Yeah, she got it. Maybe she should be the bigger person and just talk to him, but for Dieu's sake, why did she need to explain herself? He _still_ didn't stick up to Miss HBIC, Chloe Bougeois, who was bitchier than ever after Miracle Queen. 

Lila was also still lying, and although they made a truce to not hurt each other, or the people Marinette were close to, Adrien could of done anything, anything at all!

Damned High Road.

Also, Kagami. What was even up with that anyway? Kagami had invested so hard in their relationship, yet Adrien led her on, and didn't even accept that someone loved him. 

Why would he do that? What was so hard with being honest? 

Seriously, what? 

Puppeteer 2 as well. Don't even get her started on that. Tikki kept on saying it was her, Marinette's fault, for trying to kiss him in the first place. 

Seriously. 

Did Tikki have no sense in her whatsoever? Sheesh. Was it her fault that Adrien made himself look like a statue and made her make a fool of herself? 

Finally, Ladybug. 

Marinette wanted to scream every time she thought about her superhero persona and the model. After discussing Adrien with Kagami several times, they both came to the conclusion that Adrien was 'in love' with Ladybug.

 _Adrien freakin' Agreste_ had a crush on her. 

Obviously though, Marinete knew it couldn't possibly be true love. 

Why?

He didn't even fucking know her. 

When did they cross each other enough to to count as friends? Sure, you could count the numerous Akumas and Aspik, but that was a disaster. He was such a pathetic excuse for a part-time hero.

Adrien put her on a pedestal. 

Those were the reasons she used when arguing with Tikki. The real reason though? 

She put him on a pedestal as well. She only began to love Adrien because of the bloody forsaken umbrella.

But she didn't even bother to know him properly. They only knew each other for nearly two years, and how much of those two years did she form a coherent sentence in front of him? 

She treated him in a god-awful manner, and it was no surprise that Alya had staged an intervention on her stalker like tendencies. 

That's why she hated him so much.

~~~

Tikki also mentioned her cat-suited partner in crime, Chat Noir. 

Mari never wanted to leave Chat Noir at first. She felt horrible about it. 

But she was getting so sick of the puns he made, his recklessness, and along with his inability to take 'no' for an answer. 

She was the Guardian now, and she had responsibilities. Dealing with a kitten was something she didn't want nor need. So she came up with a plan.

She began to drop small comments such as: 'Chat, can you please be quiet, I can't think straight' or 'Chat, I told you to stop giving me flowers!' or 'Chat, can you shut the hell up?' By glaring at him with the ferocity she would use at Lila or Chloe, she finally managed to make him shut up. She managed to finally get peace in her mind. But as the pained looks Chat gave were so similar to the another blond that she knew, she just couldn't take it anymore. Deal with him anymore. She didn't want another Chat Blanc. So, she told him it was too dangerous to patrol together, and that they should only call each other in a dire emergency (or an akuma attack, but there weren't any of those for a while now). Yes, it wasn't the actual truth, but it was dangerous anyway, right? Strangely though, Chat complied instantly. Mari thought that he would put more of fight, to show 'how much he loves her' but whatever. She couldn't care less about him at that point. 

Tikki also mentioned that she was treating Chat too badly, and that he was 'losing himself.' Whatever _that_ was supposed to mean. Chat would of definitely called by now if he needed help, so Tikki was clearly wrong. In fact, part of her wanted Chat to give up his miraculous if it was such a strain, so that she would finally know who the bastard was and she could give the miraculous to Luka, who was seemingly a much better candidate. 

Tikki hated that idea as well. 

Marinette was getting sick of her kwami.

~~~

Anyway, thanks to Tikki, Marinette was almost late to school. Thank god she managed to stumble in class and into her seat with a croissant in her mouth, before Mme. Bustier came in. 

~~~

As Lila saw Marinette stumble into class just before the bell went, she sighed in relief. Without her, the 'lucky charm' of the class, Lila's master plan wouldn't work at all. 

She had been working on it since the night she saw Adrien 'take a break.' The thought of her plan not being well enough prepared crossed he mind several times, but she was just itching to get some of it started. So what if it was only like 5 hours since she made it? She was a smart-ass after all. She made one of the smarted guys think that a napkin would gauge his eye out after all. 

So when Lila saw the fashion disaster come into class with a slight bruise on his cheek, the blond tussles of sunshine unkept and slightly dirty, along with the Ganriel clothes that went out of date years ago, Lila knew it was time. 

Show Time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait everyone, this chapter was quite difficult for me to write. But no matter. Thank you all so, so much for all the lovely kudos! I love getting them, but I love comments as well! If it's no trouble, feel free to drop a comment. 
> 
> Stay safe, and have a good morning/afternoon/night.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interlude with... someone. Hmmmm, who is this mysterious character? I wonder what he's going to do?

The pale rays of the silver sun cascaded in a mysterious room. The room was clear, save for a table filled with strange trinkets and a rather old looking book. 

A tall figure bent over the table working on... something. His fingers were worn and tired after a long 2 months of constant reading and brewing, but as a golden shine glittered over the metal brooch, he knew it was worth it. He lifted it up to inspect it properly. 

Plans that were buried began to form again in his head. Pictures of a blond danced like a ballerina in his head. 

A grin spread across his face. 

Perfection. 

As good as new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 chapters in one day to make up for the wait. I'm sorry this one is short, but suspense is key! Guess who in the comments!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed 'The Downfall of Adrien Agreste' so far. 
> 
> I truly have no idea where this is going. I don't even know what I'm writing half the time. It's been hard for me to write for the past week. Writers block. So that's why I gave Lila and Marinette their time to 'shine'. 
> 
> I'm really salty about Marinette and her actions in the NY special. First, she treats Chat like trash in the seasons. Then, she has the audacity to hug him and say she 'couldn't do it without him?' It would make more sense if she was softer to him in the seasons before. 
> 
> Her reaction to Chat in NYC is justifiable, because well, she trusted that Chat would be in Paris, and then Paris was in ruins.
> 
> The dynamic that both of them had is the reason why I left the NY special out of this fanfic. I loved the NY S, don't get me wrong, but like... why Mari???
> 
> Also, can anyone recommend me a Marinette bashing fic? I've read plenty of Adrien bashing, Alya bashing, Lila bashing... But never Mari bashing. I'm sick of Mari not being called out more.
> 
> I would love to hear your opinions on the NY special as well! 
> 
> Stay Safe, and have a great day/night.
> 
> ~2Random101~


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Adrien goes through a lot of pain and confusion.

Adrien felt butterflies turning around and around in his stomach again as he walked up the stairs to his collége. 

What would people say? What would they do? They were all against smoking. That was clear when they were taking a biology lesson and it somehow turned into an anti-smoker protest. Of course, there was only one side for that argument. Would people realise what he did? They'd shun him for sure. Then he'd lose the only friends he had left- Nino and Chloë. He really didn't want to be alone again. The constant pain he was enduring was already enough to bear. But to see the rays of disappointment surging through the eyes of two people he really cared for? His first two friends? That would shatter him. 

And drink so much to get drunk? He knew what the class would do then, and he didn't want to think about it. He knew the consequences, but didn't do anything about it! And now, he was forced to go to school with a pounding headache and nauseous stomach, do a test for physics that he completely forgot to revise for, and he couldn't even take a shower in the morning to clear it all. It wasn't a secret that he smelt worse than Plagg's stinky Camembert. Also, recréation only lasted 20 minutes in the morning, so would that be enough time to comprehend what was going on in his notes that he took on his iPad?

Argh! 

He was so dang stupid! Why didn't he just stay at home! He could have said anything at all to Gabriel to make it worth it, but was it worth it? Feeling ten times worse and needing way more sleep than just 3 hours filled with nightmares? Adrien felt his heart sink lower. Why was he obsessing about these things? His feelings never mattered, did they? He always needed to be immaculate and perfection at all times. Why was he stressing about those things, when he needed to get a 100% on his test? His father would surely, surely give punishment as severe as being taken out of school, or maybe even more severe than that. 

He still didn't forget about the grimoire and the Collector. 

Oh no, what were they even being tested on? He couldn't remember it and he was just thinking about it! Astrophysics? Formulas? What was it? When did-

'Adrien, please stop stressing. It's making my cheese melt from all your sweat. And lookup. You need to open the door to prevent you from bruising your face even more.'

Adrien stared at the black mass peeping out from his school bag, and then to the wooden door in disbelief. After rubbing his eyes and blinking a couple of times he took a deep breath. 

In one, two, three, out one, two, three. 

Adrien croaked out a response. Plagg zoomed out of the book bag and hovered in front of his chosen’s face. 

'You can do this Adrien. Remember, even if you wind up all alone with the world against you, remember that I'm always here. I'm not leaving you.'

Adrien shot a genuine smile for the first time in a while in the kwami’s direction. Even though it wasn't quite a full one. Then, Adrien's face darkened again but cleared to become expressionless. 

Empty.

As Plagg floated back into the bag, he knew this was not going to end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet again, but I'm working on Lila’s plan chapter right now. Look out for a new chapter.
> 
> Stay safe, have fun and Enjoy! 
> 
> ~2Random101~


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lila is a bitch.

Without any more hesitation, Adrien slammed the door open and silently drifted into the room. 

Only to have a streak of orange pounce on him and engulf him in a sickly sweet scent. 

‘Adrien! It's so good to see you after our date!’

The classroom which was full of hubbub and laughter a few seconds ago grew deadly silent. 

Adrien pulled the brunette off of him and stared at her incredulously. Adrien knew that Lila was a liar, he knew that she was clingy and obsessed with him but to honestly say that they were going on a date together? Why would he even want to go on a date with her? He went on a date with Kagami yesterday! What the-

Adrian heard a flurry of footsteps rush out of the room, and he felt someone turn him around aggressively. His confused green eyes met the angered brown of Alya’s. Her face contorted in rage and she hissed in such a way he didn't even know was possible. 

’You better have a good reason for this Agreste. You better have a good explanation this time.’

With that, Alya ran out, calling in a distressed voice, ’Marinette, wait!’

Adrien whipped around to face Lila. The lying snake looked at him in mock pity. He glanced around, and everyone was back to what they were doing. Kim and Ivan were arguing again; Mŷlene, Rose and Juleka were in deep conversation; Sabrina was chatting with Alix; and Max was showing Nathaniel how to create a webtoon. Nevertheless, Adrien knew that everyone was secretly listening in. 

But Adrien didn't care about them as much as he did for his two best friends. And those two friends? They weren't happy. Nino sat in his chair in shock and hurt. Chloe was at the front now, no longer at the back, and something he hadn't seen in awhile flashed across her eyes. 

Rage. 

He didn't need this now. Why now? What should he do? Play along? Argue? What should he say? Oh, Dieu. No, no, no…

Words spilled out in indignation. 

’Lila, what are you saying? Date? What date? I literally went out with Ka-’

Lila slammed her hand across Adrien's mouth and started to drag him, letting his bag fall to the abyss, also known as the floor. Lila began talking in a very loud voice, as she was leading him to the door. For once, Lila had the right idea. He needed to get out. Flight was better than fighting.

There were still 5 minutes until class started. 

’Oh my goodness Adrien, I am so sorry. I completely forgot that you were breaking up with Kagami yesterday! I forgot that she didn't even know about us!’

Cries rose from the classroom, and Adrien looked behind again to see that Chloe had moved towards them. 

’Adrikins, surely you're not going with her are you?! And Lila? What!? You're better than that, surely!'

Lila smacked Chloe across the face, and ran with Adrien in tow, but not after he called over his shoulder to apologise to Chloe. 

They didn't stop running until they reached the locker room. After gaining their breath back, Adrien shook Lila by the shoulders. Everything he had worried about dissipated and only anger was left remaining. 

'What the hell was that Lila Rossi?! You know I went out with Kagami, my father specifically told you! You also know that I'd never, ever in a million years go out with you! I also told you not to hurt Marinette anymore! You made her cry! Now Alya is angry with me! What's your plan Volpina!? I'm just so sick of you!' 

Lila grew dangerously close to Adrien, then forcefully sat him down the bench. Then for good measure, she settled on his lap. Her olive eyes bore into his emerald orbs, and then she lowered her voice. Her brown locks glittered in the dim light and the sickly scent overpowered him again. 

’Lila, what are you-’

Adrien felt coldness twist across his neck. Horror engulfed him, and he remained silent. 

'That was very well played Agreste. Passable. You're not as spineless as had Marinette said. Though I don't think that's going to work out for you anymore.' 

Lila's dark tone brightened to the annoying singsong voice he grew to hate. She let go of his neck and hopped off his lap. She began prancing around the locker room, her chestnut ankle boots clicking on the floor. Adrien stayed sitting, massaging his neck. Apprehension took over his horror. What was Lila planning?

'You see Adrien, my plan is simple. After you pulled that little stunt last night, I knew it was my time to shine. Unfortunately, those imbeciles didn't even pay attention to what I was even saying. Though, the damage is still done!'

Adrien froze. Damage? Oh no. He should have stayed! Nino and Chloe! And Stunt? What stunt? Surely she couldn't have meant… 

Adrien felt his voice go embarrassingly high. 

'Damage? Stunt? What are you-'

Lila whisked around and grew closer and closer to him. She pulled his hair with such a force so that he ended up on the floor. Her eyes were filled with blatant rage. After slapping him a couple of times, the fight went out of Adrien and he just lay down. Tears welled in Adrien's eyes. He… he deserved this, didn't he? He was an awful person. He did awful things. Lila was right. He knew exactly what she was talking about. 

Why lie?

'Don't you dare say that you don't know what I'm talking about. You know very well what I'm talking about. Smoking? Drinking? What are you? Some dipsomaniac? Also, how dare you lie? To me? The empress of liars? Do you really think that your lies can affect me? Ha! My lies however?’

Lila's face grew alarmingly close to his face, and she held his nose. Her tone lowered to a whisper. 

'They can make you fall in one swoop.'

And they already did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! One 1000 words! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!   
> Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I was itching to post this. 
> 
> Love, 2Random101


	8. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interlude with Chloe, Alya and Nino. The akuma class's perspective will be mentioned as well. 
> 
> Basically, last chapter, but from their perspectives and more input to what happens after last chapter. 
> 
> Also a bit of back story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh, copying and pasting from google docs isn't going as well as I thought it would be. Most of my formatted text is disappearing.

_Nino_

Nino had been worried about his best bud. He began to become off... ever since the ice-cream actually.

Miracle Queen ice-cream. 

While Nino was slightly pissed at Adrien for not realising Marinette's affection for the model prior to that event, Nino was glad that both of them had finally moved on:

Adrien from Ladybug; Marinette from Adrien. 

But Adrien never seemed truly happy with Kagami as Nino had originally thought. He often gave sad sighs and his eyes stared off into the distance, distracted. He didn't even go on a date with her for absolutely ages, and he didn't seem to talk about how happy he was with her. If the subject of Kagami ever came up, Adrien would quickly change it, and talk about something boring, such as the weather. 

Yes.

The weather. 

Adrien Agreste, the hopeless romantic, talking about how sunny it was if romance came up? The same guy who would often have roses in his room to give to 'the one?' The same guy, who would caress his image of Ladybug on his phone, and just sigh with the most dreamy look in his eyes? The same guy, who would often talk about their ideals on romance and that he was going to save his ‘flower of virginity’ until he married? 

That same guy, who didn't want to talk about romance with his real-life girlfriend?

Nino just couldn't believe it. After trying to coax the truth out of Adrien and failing, Nino came to the conclusion that Adrien was just busy with everything, as his dad had been working him to the bone, and didn't have enough time for something as important as his girlfriend.

But obviously, Nino was still suspicious, so he went to the next best option- his girlfriend and his girlfriend's best friend. They were good options to find out what was going on, right?

Well, at least that’s what Nino thought.

Don't get him with wrong, he did find answers, but those answers? Well…

~~~  
As soon as Nino mentioned Adrien to them, Marinette grew pale, and Alya told him to ‘shut up about that bastard.’

Needless to say, Nino didn't like his girlfriend trash talking about his best friend. But as Nino dug deeper into Alya and Marinette's reasoning, he felt more betrayed, and began to apologise profusely to Marinette. 

He had already been shocked by Adrien’s behaviour. But hearing Marinette’s reasons why she hated him, anger and hatred bubbled in Nino as well. How dare Adrien tell Marinette to take ‘the high road?’ How dare Lila lie and threaten Marinette? Why would he do that? Nino thought he knew Adrien. His Adrien would never stay silent like that, without a good reason. But this Adrien gave no reason to not tell the truth. It's not like they had to make a huge scene to get things done, they could have easily gone to Mme. Bustier about what had happened. 

Also, Chloe. Nino apologised for that as well. He was someone who did absolutely nothing about Chloe's bullying the years prior. That was his fault. So Nino took a vow that he would protect Marinette from harm, as well as Alya from the clutches of Adrien. 

It was true that Adrien had been Nino’s best friend. However, he knew Marinette better than Adrien, and had always secretly trusted her more. Mari was Nino's childhood friend, while Adrien only became his friend nearly two years ago. 

Anyways, the sudden revelation made Nino realise that not everything was what it seemed to be. In fact, at that point,   
he didn't know if he should still trust Adrien. But of course, since he was Nino, part of him wanted to trust him. So he did, until Adrien did something in front of his eyes. 

And guess what? 

Adrien did do something in front of his eyes. 

Nino had tried calling Adrien to check up on him and ask what had happened on his very first date with Kagami, but he got no answer. It was true that it was late, but it was only around 9pm, and Nino knew that Adrien wasn't exactly the person to sleep early. So, what was up? 

Then, in the following morning, Nino got his answer. Lila had looked unbearably happy as she skipped into their classroom and she told them all that ‘she had a big surprise.’ Rose, Juleka and Myléne began asking her what was so great, but Lila kept on shushing them telling them to 'wait until everyone gets here.'

Thankfully, the girls went back to what they were doing, and kinda lost interest after Lila said that. 

In a huff, Lila sat back down, annoyed that no one was paying attention to her. 

Anyway, Alya came in after that, and after giving her a hug and a quick peck on the cheek, he tried to tell Alya about Adrien, and how he didn't reply and something was up, but then Marinette came flying into the room with a croissant in her mouth, so Nino had to shut up. 

All that was irrelevant though. 

Because 10 minutes before class started, Adrien came in, looking like a mess. 

Nino had never seen Adrien look so… awful before. 

A pale dark purple embellished his normally immaculate face, and shadows decorated his eyes, which were tired, and even had a hint of fear in them. Something else was in his eyes too, but Nino couldn't place that emotion. 

Adrien's black hoodie hoodie and stonewashed jeans, though designer, were shabby and seemed to be more snug than his other clothes. 

Nino felt concern growing for his best friend, but then a flurry of perfume and brown diminished that pity. He had never felt so betrayed, angry and upset before. Yep, Adrien was definitely on his death list now, along with Lila.

Because at that moment, Lila wrapped her arms around Adrien, and exclaimed,

‘Adrien! It's so good to see you after our date!’

_Alya_

Alya couldn't believe it.

Actually, she could.

Sunshine had always seemed a bit suspicious, and had kept secrets. For example, where the heck did Adrien keep on disappearing during Akuma attacks? And why did he keep on murmuring to his bag? 

As a journalist, Alya noticed these small details. 

She also realised that Lila was a lying chienne. Yes, it did take a while to realise that she was lying, because she had originally thought Marinette was just jealous. 

Alya wasn't going to deny that to herself. 

In fact, Alya had staged an intervention over text to say that she was going too far with Adrien. But when Marinette suddenly went out with Luka, literally a day later, Alya knew that Lila was lying, from the start.

It was slightly confusing on just how she had managed to realise, but realisation dawned on her when Alya realised that it was impossible for someone to get tinnitus, and not have any medical record. And now that Alya thought about it, Lila didn't even go to the nurses office when Mari ‘accidentally’ pushed her down the stairs. 

She miraculously healed, then showed the necklace in the locker. 

And for someone to have a lying disease? 

Ha! The only thing remotely close to a disease for lying was ‘Pathological Lying!’

And guess what? That was a mental disorder, which was linked with other mental illnesses! 

Alya had never felt so annoyed in her life. Nora and the twins could have deleted a really important post for the ‘Ladyblog’, and she still wouldn't be as annoyed. 

Lila wasn't super cool, she was super-psycho! 

And the funniest part? 

When Alya explained everything to Mari, she looked at her, Alya, dead in the eye and said in a monotonous voice, 

‘You're seriously telling me this now?’ 

Alya apologised of course, but then was forced to stay quiet when Marinette announced that she hated Agreste. 

She hated Adrien Agreste. 

Alya had to splash cold water from Marinette’s bathroom onto her face to properly comprehend what the girl had just said. 

The girl who had a massive crush on Adrien hated him now? Alya knew Marinette was taken now, but-

‘Why?! Since when?’ 

Then Marinette began her teary, heartfelt rant. 

Alya’s blood started to boil as she comforted Marinette. She wasn't going to repeat what she said to Marinette after learning about Adrien's betrayal, but let's just say that Alya decided to add someone to her death list. And that someone was Agreste.

The bastard. 

Then, Nino, her boyfriend, had the audacity to be mad at her, Alya, for calling Adrien a bastard. Granted, Nino didn't even know what Lila was really doing, but still. 

Ignorance was no excuse. 

As Alya loved him with all her heart, she put that boy straight. And just like she expected, Nino started to apologise a whole bunch and Alya thought that they could finally get the truth out of him, Adrien, with Nino's help. Unsurprisingly though, Nino didn't want to do anything until Adrien did something in front of his eyes. And that day was today. 

~~~

Alya sat stoic still as she saw Lila fling her arms around Adrien. That dick.

How dare he cheat on Kagami!

Adrien really broke the straw in her camel's back this time. Although it didn't really shock her, Alya was still utterly disgusted and annoyed. She grew especially angry as Marinette streaked out of the room. 

Adrien was the one who was stressing her best friend out so much.   
Adrien was the one who was cheating on his girlfriend.  
Adrien was the one breaking everything apart. 

Alya couldn't remember what exactly happened next, but she ran after Marinnette, and had hissed at Adrien, or something. She was filled with love and concern for her best friend, and couldn't care about anything else. She found Marinette in the bathroom, shaking. 

Alya just hugged her and told Marinette that she didn't need him, and she already hated him, so she didn't need to worry. Karma, she advised, was always a bitch, so Adrien would face his downfall, and consequences, soon enough. After Marinette calmed down, they both rushed back to class so they wouldn't be late. 

When they reached the classroom, everyone was arguing about Adrien. Turns out that Nino, bless his soul, told everyone what Adrien had done, despite him being Adrien's best friend. 

Then, everyone finally sat down as Mme. Bustier came in, with Lila and Adrien in tow. 

Alya was a bit surprised at how utterly fake Adrien's face looked, as he had plastered on his model smile, but she dismissed it as a ploy to gain pity. After all, why would she care about someone who didn't care about them? And it did make sense why Chloe's childhood friend would want pity and attention. He was a model, and daddy's little brat. 

There was no use for Sunshine anymore, especially when he never radiated warmth.

_Chloe_

The Parisian rich kid had no time for a tragic backstory with nitty gritty details. Chloe was mad, but mainly upset, and she had every right to be, as she was Adrien's oldest friend. 

Chloe knew that Adrien had secrets. He always snuck out, disappeared during class, etc. 

He was never truly open with his feelings as he had been years prior to his mother’s disappearance, but Chloe at least thought he was as honest as he could have been. 

What Chloe was trying to address was the fact that she thought she nearly knew everything about Adrien. But clearly, she was wrong. 

Poor Nino, he looked heart broken, and Dupain-Cheng and Césaire were upset too, as they ran off. 

When Adrien had asked what she, Lila was saying, Chloe thought that maybe Adrien was still innocent. 

That was a false hope. 

Adrien, despite her valiant efforts, went along with Lila, and he let Lila slap her! 

Yes, he apologised, but still. It shocked Chloe more than anything, and she just went back to her seat and buried her head in her arms when he ran off. She didn't know what to think. 

How could the boy who was so nice and kind, her brother, cheat and do nothing about it? How could he run off with someone and have no remorse for his actions? What happened to the boy she thought she knew? 

Maybe she was just hormonal, but Chloe sobbed into her arms. 

She didn't even notice how awful Adrien looked.   
The classroom was met with silence once again. 

_3rd Person POV_

Juleka, Rose and Myléne, who were strangely quiet during the whole ordeal, broke the silence and exclaimed in a loud voice,

‘What was all that about?’ 

The class stared at Nino and Chloe expectantly, waiting for an answer. Everyone was paying attention now, as there was tea, and it was piping so hot it steamed up the whole room. Even Kim and Ivan were interested. Nino, just like his girlfriend, remained stony-faced, while Chloe just rested her head. 

The words felt foreign on his mouth, but Nino decided to tell the truth. At least part of it anyway. Nino wasn't emotionally stable enough to out Lila.   
The class became outraged. 

‘You're serious?’

‘Adrien cheated?!’

‘Poor Lila and Kagami!’

‘Death to the Agrestes!’

‘No wonder Mari ran off!’

‘Send Adrien to Coventry!’

Nino hadn't expected such a reaction to arouse from the class, and he felt almost prideful that they did. No one was dissing Lila for some reason, but at least everyone knew that Adrien was not who he seemed to be. 

When Marinette and Alya came back to the classroom, they were also surprised at the class, but when they really realised why they were angry, ghosts of smiles glowed on their faces, and their eyes lit up. But then Marinette’s face fell, and her eyes flickered about, seeking for something.

‘Speaking of… him, where is he?’

Alya looked around as well, and added, 

‘And where is Lila? There's only like, one minute ‘till class starts.’ 

Nino was just about to explain what happened after they both left, but just then Mme. Bustier came in looking all flustered, with Lila and Adrien trudging behind her. 

‘Class, I'm sorry I was late today, but I had to help Mlle. Mendeleiev with some filing, so I completely lost track of time. Please everyone, sit down. Lila and Adrien, please sit at the empty back seats for now.’

Everyone had shut up now, and grumbles and hints of confusion could be heard from under their breaths as they sat down. How could Mme. Bustier act so calm towards Agreste? Why was she being so nice?

They all sent daggers as Adrien walked past them to go to the back, but also gave glances of pity towards Lila. Even Nino, Marinette and Alya, who knew the whole truth felt bad for Lila. 

But Tikki, who was peering from Mari’s bag, was not going to deal with their ignorance. 

What had happened between Lila and Adrien when they left? Why was Adrien straining his smile? Why did she smell the unmissable scent of alcohol and cigarettes under his cologne? Why was make up plastered all over his face, and neck? Why was he limping?

Something very, very bad must have happened during the time they were away.

Tikki didn't know what to do about it though, especially when her holder barely listened to her anymore.

Tikki sensed something dark approaching Adrien. 

Little did she know, something already had. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! 1 month anniversary! Thanks to all of you that have stuck around so far!
> 
> Next chapter: The Return of HawkDaddy (Adrien-centric)


	9. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last Time:
> 
> The akuma class believes that Adrien is a cheater, and hates him. The snake, a.k.a Lila, has wormed her way out from judgement. 
> 
> This Time:  
> Part 1 for the Return of HawkMoth. 
> 
> (HawkMoth isn’t actually in this part XD)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, I’ve decided to merge Chapter 8a and 8b together, so a chapter has disappeared. Just letting you know!

Bullets of water slammed at the glass as recréation finished, and late morning lessons rolled around. Chills flew through the air as the autumn breeze drifted into the building. Students filled and emptied each classroom as they buzzed towards their next class, either overjoyed or dejected at the prospect of ‘learning new things’. 

While the rest of the school was otherwise unaffected by the dark atmosphere, the gloomy weather had its presence felt by Mme. Bustier’s class, who were actually in Mlle. Mendeleive’s room at the moment. Having to change rooms only once thanks to their crappy schedules, the students nearly froze due to the sheer lack of movement, as the room had been so cold. 

It also didn't help the fact that they had to be stuck in the same room as the Devil's son himself. 

Needless to say, tensions in the room had been at an all-time high. Cold teenagers and angered temperaments did not go well together. Pencils had snapped several times now, and fingernails had grown shorter and shorter. Only under the teacher’s watchful eyes were they able to keep an order to their stress. 

During all of this as well, quiet glares were shot at Adrien by everyone, except for Lila who just looked a bit put out at all the newfound attention he was getting. 

Nevertheless, the distractions caused no major harm, and all the students managed to pull a somewhat decent attempt at finishing their physics test, mainly because of Mlle. Mendeleive’s strict rules.

At least, everyone except for Mr Agreste. 

Adrien was at his wit's end. 

The test was simple enough in theory, but in reality, it may as well have been written in Arabic, which  _ didn't  _ happen to be a language he knew. Half an hour had already passed, and he couldn't focus whatsoever. He only managed to complete one question so far, and still had 39 to go. His father would no doubt be furious at him at this rate, and Adrien was frightened to the bone at the prospect of having yet another argument, which would no doubt have an added slap. 

But that wasn't the only thing that was tearing at him. 

Adrien pulled at his blond locks with his free hand as he breathed slowly, trying to calm himself. The events of the morning remained fresh in his head, and Adrien had to force himself to not to scream until he was hoarse. 

_ Lila forced Adrien up and slammed him against a nearby locker. After taking a concealer and cologne and smearing it all over him, her eyebrows perked up like a small curious child.  _

Adrien felt Lila touch his thigh under the table. Adrien tensed up, and shuffled slightly away from her, and stared blankly at his page. Only 38 questions to go now. 

_ Her eyes, despite that, carried the traces of pure menace. Her hands explored Adrien's torso and climbed up towards his neck, and latched upon it. The space between them now was limited to none. This was far too close for Adrien's liking. Lila seemed to know that as well.  _

‘10 minutes left everyone!’

_ Lila paused for a moment, but then her mouth twisted into a knowing, seductive smirk, and she smashed her lips onto his. Adrien wanted to free himself, but paralysis possessed him. _

Adrien shivered, recalling the events that took place next. The taste of pure disgust remained in his mouth, and Adrien felt contaminated, dirty. 

But most of all, disappointed in himself. 

_ The ‘kiss’, although short-lived, contained no pleasure for Adrien, as the thin chapped sticks of Lila grazed his lips unpleasantly. Instead of the exploding fireworks of joy that he read about, the tribulation of kryptonite burned in his head. Pins shot through every fibre of his body, and even though he wanted to push Lila away from him, he couldn’t.  _

The headache from the morning remained. Even though nausea had passed, as he had puked again during recréation, Adrien still felt sick.

Sick of himself. 

_ When the kiss was finished, her lips travelled to his ear, and she threatened him with the quiet grace of a fox. _

Murmurs were heard amongst the class at that point, indicating that they were finished, yet Adrien was only on question 3. Fear reclaimed his brain as the crystal clear words spun around like a toy train.

_ ‘If you don't do what I say, then you can  _ **_kiss_ ** _ everything you love goodbye. You will be alone, hated by everyone, and I will hurt everyone you love, especially Marinette. I will expose all of your secrets to the world and ruin you. I will hurt you. I will ruin your life. No one believes you now, and no one ever will. This is my only warning. You are my luscious slave, destined to be. If you go running, my threat still stands. For who would believe a male over a female?’ _

If Mme. Bustier had not walked in at that moment, and there was more than a minute left, Lila would have managed to go much further than either of them anticipated first hand. And for that, Adrien couldn't help but feel rejoiced, even if they weren't found in the most ideal circumstance. Lila had instantly let go of him and stepped back and plastered her fake smile to not arouse suspicion. Adrien slammed his head on the table, cursing under his breath, as he remembered his utter stupidity in the situation.

_ ‘Lila? Adrien? I was on my way to class when I heard a noise. What are you two doing here? Class is about to start…’ _

_ Mme. Bustier trailed off, looked down at her watch and gasped. The slight annoyance in her features turned into shock, and she grabbed the teens by the hand and tugged them out of the locker room. _

_ ‘...Right Now! We’ll talk about this later, okay?’ _

_ Lila and Adren stared at each other, threat somewhat forgotten, bewildered at the sudden action Mme. Bustier had dragged them into.  _

I’m _ Even though Adrien wanted to scream, or shout, or at least  _ **_say something,_ ** _ he had no choice to follow after Mme. along with Lila and remain mute.  _

_ When the bell rang as they ran, Adrien knew that he could never forget the glare that Lila... _

Adrien looked up, confusion etched on his face. Everyone else looked confused as well, and Mlle. Mendeleive’s serious frown turned into horror.

A familiar beeping rang in the class, followed by an ear-splitting shriek.

Everyone turned to Alya, who grew slightly pale. She looked at her phone, and her hand went to cover her mouth. Even though her voice was slightly muffled, everyone knew what she was saying. 

‘There’s an akuma attack…’ 

A collection of various voices rang out, and Mlle. Mendeleive had to slam her hands on her desk to calm the students from their panic. Usually, when there would be an akuma attack, the students were usually more calm, and even somewhat excited, but due to the lack of attacks, the students had been accustomed to their regular lives once again, which, in short, meant that they weren't ready for this. 

‘Students, please stay calm.’ Mlle. Mendeleiev ordered. The storm of voices quietened down, as Mlle. Mendeleiev began to give a series of instructions to the class. 

‘Alya , bring your phone here, so we can see the nature of this attack. If serious, I will have no choice but to send you and everyone else home until the akuma has been de-evilised.’

‘Ivan, collect all the papers for the test, and hand them back to the front. The rest of you, pack up your bags swiftly, quietly and without delay.’

Alya walked towards Mlle. Mendeleiev, and begrudgingly gave the phone to her. Said teacher opened the akuma tracker app, and began to study the most recent post, with a certain air of authority. Ivan began to do rounds of the class and collected the papers. The rest of the class had also begun to follow orders by tidying their desks and shoving their stationery in their bags. Adrien wanted to follow suit, but froze at the realization of the true meaning of having an akuma attack.

This. 

Was.

Not.

Good.

There hadn’t been an akuma attack in 2 months. He hadn’t seen Ladybug, worked on tactics or anything in 1 month. This was just great. Who knew what Hawkmoth was planning? How could he make an excuse if Mlle. Mendelieve didn't think that the attacks were serious enough to be sent home? Heck, did he and Ladybug even have a plan? Well, they did have their usual tactics with him putting him listening to Ladybug and helping with whatever plan she came up with, but would that even work since their dynamic was failing? 

Actual important question, would Ladybug even want to see him again? 

Oh for goodness sake, what was he even doing thinking about his Bugaboo (no, Ladybug) anyway? He should be taking charge and helping get everyone out and away, making sure that the attacks wouldn't harm them! He was being so goddamn selfish that…

'Oi, Agreste! Are you deaf or something? I'm talking to you!'

Adrien jerked out of his seat, then squinted intently at Alix with a hint of annoyance. 

Agreste ? 

He wanted nothing to do with Gabriel . He stood up, since everyone else was, pushed his chair in and responded. 

'Yes?'

'Agreste, while you were zoning out and staring at the wall and being unhelpful, the rest of the class found out that the akumatized victim is none other than your 'girlfriend' Kagami. Care to explain?' 

Adrien's heart constricted in his chest, and he felt the colour leaving his cheeks. Ice shot through his back and numbness overtook him.

Kagami was Hawkmoth's first victim? 

Oh god, he should have never let her go! If he had just talked to her, maybe it would have worked out somewhat. But Kagami had blocked him everywhere. 

…

This was all his fault. 

'What?! Oh my god. Why? Is it because of me? I mean, she broke up with me yesterday but-`

'You Liar.'

Kim cut in and gave a steely gaze at Adrien. That's when Adrien abruptly concluded that silent statements were being shared among the class, via glances. Adrien knew he wasn't the brightest at reading human expressions, he could tell that they were accusing. 

What?!

Adrien opened his mouth, to retort, to say he wasn’t lying, but Ivan, who was usually so quiet, pushed past everyone and stuck his middle finger right in his face. Lila was smirking slightly, smugness plastered all across her eyes and flames shot through Adrien, bringing him back to life. 

He was such a retard. He should've known that Lila wouldn't be honest. She was a liar, the queen of liars. No, the ‘empress’. He knew who and what she was, so why didn’t he do anything?

‘Do you think we really believe your sob story? You’re going out with Lila you sociopath! She said you went on a date with her! Or do you have brain damage or something? You cheated, remember?’

Adrien gaped at Ivan, aghast. Did they honestly believe that he was actually going out with Lila? He knew that the class was slightly off towards him after he came back, but he was so focused on revising he didn’t notice they were hostile towards him. Then, he remembered that Marinette knew that Lila was lying. Adrien focused his attention to the taller teen then turned his head to talk to the petite one.

‘What?’ Adrien spluttered. ‘Me? Going out with Lila? Marinette, you know Lila is lying. You normally speak to Kagami about me, right?’

Marinette turned slightly green, glanced quickly at Lila, then faced Adrien with determination and anger crossed all over her face. Nino and Alya glared at Adrien with the same force. 

‘Don’t drag Mari into this Adrien! She isn’t a liar like you are! And anyway, Lila is being honest.’ 

Adrien’s heart dropped. Lila? Being honest? At least Alya didn’t know the truth…

But Marinette?

‘...Is this true Marinette?’ 

Marinette scowled at Adrien.

‘It is Adrien. Lila is being completely honest. I know she is. You are the liar.’

‘But I’m not! I swear-‘

‘That’s enough class! Line up swiftly and for goodness sake let’s move! You can discuss your childish drama after the akuma has been captured. Do I make myself clear? And be quiet.’

The class quietened down and followed out of the class, grumbling even more after Mlle. Mendelieve’s statement. 

Adrien followed slowly behind grateful that Mlle. Mendelieve was so strict. 

Once he was alone, Adrien ran into a dark corner and let out Plagg.

Plagg looked pityingly at Adrien and began to open his mouth…

‘-Don’t say anything Plagg,’ Adrien said monotonously. ‘We need to do our duty, then talk. Ok?’

Plagg nodded silently.

‘Claws Out.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone!
> 
> I’v decided to split ‘Chapter 8’ into separate parts. As two of my loved ones recently attracted COVID-19 (don’t worry, they’re fine now) my heart wasn’t all that into writing. 
> 
> Hope you all stay safe during these tough times.
> 
> Love, 
> 
> ~2Random101~


	10. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interlude with Nathalie. Takes place during the chapter wher Lila pulled Adrien out of class with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Realise this is getting a bit boring, and we’re straying away from the actual plot, but since there’s been some questioning about Gabriel, I’ve decided to use a bit more background. I am also not going to be splitting Chapter 8 into parts anymore, I’ll just post them as a new chapter each.
> 
> You might have realised that the chapters have changed up, as I merged Chapter 8a and 8b together. 
> 
> Chapter 10 will be out this week, and I would like to apologise for the slow updates. Before, I would normally write during night, so I would get less sleep and ultimately felt drained throughout the day. It took up most of my energy, so I’ve decided to adopt a healthier writing routine. Therefore, updates will come out once every two weeks at the latest, once every week at best.
> 
> Also, you may have noticed a new creator by the name of ‘Gacha Star.’
> 
> Star is my beta, and that’s why she is labelled as my co-creator. The story is still by me however.

'You're kidding me, right?' 

When Nathalie was told that her miraculous was fixed, she thought Gabriel was joking. 

Well, she hoped he was joking.

Heck, the only reason she was keeping herself alive was that the prospect that he would never be able to fix it, so if he  _ wasn't _ joking, she was damn near about to off herself. 

It was no secret that Gabriel's mental health was deteriorating for the past 2 years, each passing day making him more insane. 

What sane man would try to kill a duo of fourteen year olds just to get some stupid jewellery?

Granted, it  _ was  _ magical jewellery, but that was irrelevant. 

At first, Nathalie had delusioned herself into thinking that she was 'in love' with the so-called helpless man whose only ‘dream’ was to retrieve the light of his life, Emelie. She actually felt bad for Gabriel. She even started to tighten Adrien’s schedule, even though she knew that he hated a full schedule, just so Gabriel would have more time and privacy to do his evil doing. 

Thank god she managed to get a wake up call. 

When Nathalie saw that Gabriel had slapped Adrien, the poor soul, Nathalie realised how much of an enabler she was being. She was such an asshole for not doing anything sooner, and she realised that this needed to  _ stop _ . 

After Nathalie came home, her usual unruffled manner broke into a flaming hot mess.

‘Gabriel, what the actual  _ fuck  _ was that?! Why did you  _ hit  _ Adrien?! Your own son?! You are out of control!’ 

Gabriel rolled his eyes at Nathalie. The study was clean now, no traces of him having a drunken night, but Nathalie wasn’t so sure if that was a good thing. His hair was perfectly coiffed, and his usual candy cane attire was back on. Despite this though, his eyes carried traces of insanity, and his voice was low and raspy. Nathalie crossed her hands acroiss her chest, challenging Gabriel to speak, yet when she finally got her answer, her heart froze and her hands dropped to her sides. 

‘All part of my plan Nathalie. You see, thanks to Miss Rossi, I have decided that the best course of action to retrieve the Yin and Yang is to akumatize my own son. By making him have strong and powerful emotions, he will be the key to retrieve Emilie. Once he has retrieved said miraculous, he will be the perfect sacrifice. Then, my true love will be back once more.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve decided to remove the ‘Marinette Salt’ tag. 
> 
> The direction my fanfic is taking has strayed away from my original plot from when I began to write TDOAA, and therfore I feel like Marinette salt, class bashing, and anything else like that is irrelevant now. I know some of you readers may feel disappointed at the turn of events, but bashing isn’t really my kind of read. I may end up changing my mind in future chapters, but that is my decision as of the 5/12/20. 
> 
> Thanks for reading, and stay safe during these times.
> 
> Love,
> 
> 2Random101
> 
> P.S, here's a little teaser for the next chapter:
> 
> **Ladybug: Chat… This isn't just a regular akuma.**
> 
> **Ladybug: Hawkmoth has merg-**


	11. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know this is slow, but since I said that I’ll post a chapter this week, I’ve decided too. I hope you enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Inspiration Design for Chat Noir](https://www.deviantart.com/cerumoce/art/Ladynoir-Redesign-814070411)

Green light engulfed Adrien, and when it was gone, Chat Noir looked down at his hands in astonishment. His usual leather claws were gone, leaving seamless, airy, (maybe even  _ cotton)  _ black as night gloves. Chat flexed his hands in wonder, then noticed something else. The gloves seemed to carry on, blending in with dark leather, which crawled up to his shoulder blades, which felt heavy as a hood had placed themselves upon them. Gingerly lifting up the hood with cat ears upon his head, a faint smile grew upon Chat's masked face. Plagg had really outdone himself this time. Lines of viridescent trailed down from his Adam’s apple to his lower abdomen, and the golden bell which he had been accustomed to had disappeared. The exact green adorned his black boots and glittering silver metal layered its toe cap. Slivers of platinum outlined his black tail and his ring seemed to have changed as well, as the luminescent paw print glowed brightly in the dim light. Thank god it had stopped raining.

Even his head seemed to become light and airy, and he felt more happier and energised. In spite of this though, Chat felt a strange block in his mind, as if he knew that something bad had happened, but he couldn't place what. Fragments of his memory seemed to have... disappeared? No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember. Deciding it was just a tiring day, he shrugged it off, and looked at the new message that appeared on his baton. His heart soared with hope and joy when he realised who wrote the message, yet dropped like a stone when he finished reading. 

**Ladybug:** **_Salut_ ** **Chat Noir, meet me at the Louvre? Kagami, a.k.a Betrayer has been akumatized.**

**Ladybug is typing...**

Chat Noir stared at the letters forming the word ‘Kagami’, confused. Wasn’t she Ryuuko, Onichan and Riposte? What led her to become akumatized?  _ Why _ was she akumatized? 

Chat Noir stared at the moving dots impatiently, waiting for Ladybug to finish. Butterflies of horror swarmed in his stomach when Ladybug had finally sent the message. 

**Ladybug: Chat… This isn't just a regular akuma.**

**Ladybug: Hawkmoth has merged the miraculous.**

Chat Noir felt goosebumps trailing down his neck as his shaky fingers trembled across the fingerboard. 

It just didn't make any  _ sense.  _ How did Hawkmoth merge the miraculous? Didn’t he know the dangers? How did he even manage to fix the peacock? What about Mayura? What happened to  _ her _ ? What pushed Hawkmoth into getting rid of her? 

And how in god’s name did he even have a plan?! Yes, turning Chloe into Miracle Queen was a plan that showed some promise, but he and Ladybug managed to stop it. For crying out loud, this was the same man who akumatized Mr. Ramier into Mr Pigeon 51 times. 

51 times!

**Chat Noir: What?!**

**Chat Noir: Hold on, I'll be straight there.**

**Ladybug is typing…**

**Ladybug: Also, Chat, can we-**

**Chat Noir: No time Ladybug, we need to defeat the akuma or amok, or whatever it's called.**

Chat Noir closed his MiraclePhone, and plummeted himself with his baton towards the deep carolina sky, unsure of what was yet to come. 

~~~

Exhilaration pumped through Chat's veins as he jumped over the Parisian rooftops once more. Although the wind whipped into his hood, causing it to blow off, Chat relished the knife sharp current of air stinging at his neck. His body felt agile, feet rising up gracefully as his acceleration heightened while he bolted towards the Louvre.

Once Chat Noir was inside there and had backed into a shadowy wall to inspect the area, he realised that everything seemed… dangerously quiet and empty. 

There was no akuma monologuing monotonously; no crying civilians begging for help and no Ladybug flittering about lamenting… 

'Chat Noir, look out!' 

Chat Noir swished around and just managed to block a blow that Betrayer had forced upon him. Flashing cyan oval eyes punctured into him as Chat Noir fell back, wincing, and a pained smile covered his face. 

‘Hey, that’s not very nice!’ Chat Noir choked out as he stumbled back up and spun his baton round and round to create a shield, blocking Betrayers continuous attacks with her laser sword. 

How come all of Kagami's different forms had swords? 

‘Not very nice? I'll show you not very nice! Let’s see how many people you’ve Betrayed, tomcat!’ 

‘Oi, leave Chat alone!’ 

Out of nowhere, a flurry of red cascaded down in front of Chat Noir, protecting him from Betrayer's prowess. As Ladybug spun her yo-yo, she and Chat Noir locked eyes, and Chat couldn't help but notice how her midnight hair, which was now in a back ponytail, shimmered delicately; how those piercing cornflower blue eyes reflected the museum's light like diamonds; how those beautiful freckles decorated her angel shaped face; and how a soft, yet sweet smile embraced her rosy lips. 

A smile which soon turned into a glower.


	12. Update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...

Hi guys.

I'm really sorry that I'm doing this, but for now, I'm discontinuing 'The Downfall of Adrien Agreste.'

Writer's block has hit me hard, and I can't bring myself to write anything, as I know it'll only disappoint. 

I'm not dropping off the bat forever though, I will still post one-shots and maybe, on a future date, I'll come back to continue this. But not now. 

Thank you to those who have stuck around.

Signing off, 

~2Random101~


End file.
